1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA) cable assembly, and more particularly to a SATA cable assembly having a plurality of standard SATA cables and a plurality of single wires.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, most computers have a storage device called a hard drive. A hard drive is connected to the computer by way of an interface, usually a controller card, a cable, and some software protocols. One type of hard drive interface used today is an integrated drive electronics (IDE) interface. This is also known as an advanced technology attachment (ATA) interface. ATA is the actual interface specification for the IDE standard. The current IDE/ATA standard is a parallel interface whereby multiple bits of data are transmitted at one time across the interface simultaneously during each transfer. A parallel interface allows for high throughput, however, as the frequency of the interface is increased, signaling problems and interference between signals become common.
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) is an interface specification that abandons the parallel concept in favor of a serial interface where only one bit is transferred at a time. This allows the interface to operate at higher speeds without the problems associated with a parallel interface at higher speeds. As computer processor performance has increased, so have the read/write data rates of hard disk drive heads and media. Serial ATA eliminates bottlenecks that occur in parallel AT interfaces.
Currently, SATA connectors are only single position seven pin connectors. Today, not only are processor speeds increasing, but the amount of space that a computer fits into is shrinking. Therefore, the motherboards or printed circuit boards (PCB) that hold the electronics and other devices for a computer have limited space. In a computer which may contain multiple hard drives, multiple SATA connectors and SATA cable assemblies may need to reside on the printed circuit board and occupy the space of the computer. This takes up considerable space, depending on the number of hard disk drives and associated SATA connectors.
Therefore, there is a need for integrating overall SATA connector interfaces into one interface that saves computer space and simplifies the assembly and manufacturing of the SATA connector.
An object of the present invention is to provide a SATA cable assembly for saving computer space.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a SATA cable assembly for achieving a more reliable high speed signals and low speed signals transmission.
In order to achieve the objects set forth, a SATA cable assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing having a SATA interface, a plurality of contacts retained in the insulative housing, a plurality of standard SATA cables each standard SATA cable having two differential pairs electrically connecting to the contacts, and a plurality of single wires electrically connecting to the contacts and locating between two standard SATA cables for transmitting low speed signals.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of a SATA cable assembly in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but taken from rear and bottom aspects;
FIG. 3 is a partly assembled perspective view of the SATA cable assembly showing a plurality of contacts assembled into a housing;
FIG. 4 is a partly assembled view of the SATA cable assembly showing a plurality of standard SATA cables and single wires assembled to the housing;
FIG. 5 is an assembled view of the SATA cable assembly of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is an assembled view of the SATA cable assembly of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the SATA cable assembly of FIG. 6 and a first complementary SATA connector with compliant type contact; and
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the SATA cable assembly of FIG. 6 and a second complementary SATA connector with right angle type contacts.